Happy almost-December, everyone.

While the Christmas season certainly means more to me than gratuitous consumerism, I must admit I got swept up in the Black Friday holiday hoopla this year.
Armed with a day off and hellbent intent to give our living room a facelift, Matty and I set out on an adventure that involved a UHaul (to pick up free hand-me-down couches from my friend Courtney) and a few hours (yep, hours) at Best Buy.

After never giving in to the flat-TV need for years, I was finally ready to toss our old tube television out on the sidewalk and get rid of the old brown couches we'd been working with since we moved in--one of which Ozzie had nearly destroyed by gnawing at a small hole in the cushion daily until it became a nearly two-foot rip. Thanks, dawg.

But anyway.
We emerged victorious with a 50" flat screen, two microfiber red couches, and a new gray shag rug. But, upon returning home, it became increasingly clear that mounting the TV over the fireplace mantle as I'd envisioned would be an issue. The guys searched for studs, but came up blank. After some drilling, it became clear that the dry wall over the mantle was just covering the brick chimney behind it. We toyed with keeping a TV stand or choosing a different wall, but Matt knew just how badly I wanted the room laid out. He went down to the wood shop in the basement and got to work.

...we cuddled. In a strictly platonic fashion, of course.


...and today, they are gone and I am left with the one with the creepy mustache.
God help us all.

...considering I have been working in the mobile industry for almost six years (!) now, and have been slowly but surely becoming a Mac enthusiast during that time...but previously, my carrier did not have the iPhone, and I still had to wait two ungodly years for an upgrade.

So.

Now.

Finally.

Here we are.




Instagram photos will finally be getting a piece of the blog action, as my previous device left so much to be desired in the camera department.

Get ready for a lot more on-the-go action, friends.

It's about damn time.

That right there, ladies and gentlemen, is the love of my life.

While I must admit I miss the messy beard that earned him the contact title "Fuzzface" in my orange LG EnV flip phone back in the day, this here stache serves quite the purpose, of course.

You see, Matty, along with my roommate Kurt, and many of my friends are participating in Movember to raise money and awareness for mens health issues like prostate and testicular cancer.

You can see the evolution of Kurt's stache after the jump, and you can still donate to their Movember team here. They've raised a lot of money and are among the top teams in Boston!

Proud of my (creepy looking) dudes.

Hello hello.
Back with more libations and smiles. Tis the season, is it not?

First, a Public Service Announcement:
If you're living in a major metropolitan area, especially my fair city of Boston, I highly recommend that you subscribe to emails from Thrillist and Urban Daddy for upcoming events, restaurant openings, and otherwise entertaining shit that does not involve the dive bar on your corner.

It was all thanks to an email from Thrillist back in August that I became privy to the fact that there was a full-fledged, craft distillery right down the road from my own front door. GrandTen has been open for a while now, and when they put the finishing touches on their tasting room in August, I knew we had to check it out. I reached out to the GrandTen guys directly regarding a tour, and received a super-nice, personal email back from Spencer, one of the co-founders of GrandTen, telling us to "come on by" any Tuesday evening or Saturday.

Of course, a while went by since the summer, with Matty and I traveling and generally forgetting about the liquor pilgrimage I had inquired about. And then, I saw GrandTen's flagship gin at our local liquor store, and I knew I had to reach out to Spencer again and go see this place for myself.